Men’s Lacrosse falls to Norwich, earns #7 seed in GNAC Tournament

(Nashua, New Hampshire) The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team is return to the playoffs for the second consecutive year despite their 12-7 loss to Norwich University this afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference competition. The Raiders (8-7 overall, 5-5 GNAC) will be the seventh seeded team in the upcoming GNAC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon when they travel to seconded seeded Lasell College. Norwich (7-9 overall, 7-3 GNAC) is the #4 seed and will host #5 Mount Ida College.

The Raiders jumped out to an early four goal lead in the second quarter before the Cadets fought their way back in.

With 40 seconds left to play in the third quarter and the game tied at 7, Norwich's Ian Thomas gave the Cadets their first lead as they never looked back en route to a 12-7 final.

Sophomore Kyle Graham (Londonderry, NH) was the goal lead for Rivier as he found the back of the net twice and junior Dan Connelly (Bedford, NH) added a goal and assist in the loss. Sophomore Clark Plummer (Londonderry, NH) made eight saves for the Raiders.

Norwich was led by Seth Fuller, who had two goals and two assists on the day. Thomas finished with two goals and both Ryan McCarhty and Matt Flaherty added a pair of goals in the win. Mark Paradiso made four saves in net for Norwich.

Prior to the start of the game, the Raiders honored Seniors Danny Hooper (Wakefield, RI), Jeff Kelly (Westborough, Mass.), Jim Varela (Merrimack, NH) and manager Stephanie Szuskta for the dedication and service to the Men's Lacrosse program.